Football:

Saturday evening’s showdown between No. 1 Mt. SAC and No. 2 Riverside was exactly what a 3C2A So Cal Regional championship game should be.

RCC looked to be driving towards a midrange field goal for the win.

But a couple of penalties and the Mounties defense pushed the Tigers back to the 33-yard line.

Facing a 4th-and-20, and with 15 seconds or so to play, RCC decided to go for it instead of attempting a 50-yard field goal.

Brady Jones tossed a pass that, if caught, would have been close to a first down.

However, the MSAC defense put pressure on the Tigers’ receiver and the bell fell to the ground.

Mt. SAC only needed to take a knee once to hold on for a 37-35 victory.

They have earned the right to play the College of San Mateo next Saturday afternoon in Northern California for the state championship.

The game had a number of heroes for the Mounties.

But perhaps none bigger than kicker, Matthew Fidone.

Mt. SAC’s Jacob Bonilla is easily one of the state’s most reliable kickers, but Saturday wasn’t his night.

He missed a couple of field goals and one extra point.

Fidone came on and kicked an extra-point midway through the fourth quarter.

And the former Bonita Bearcat followed that with a moment that had his coaches and teammates singing his praises.

Trailing 35-34 the Mounties offense was going the wrong way.

The RCC defense pushed them back to the 31-yard line.

With 1:42 to play, Fidone trotted out onto the field.

And without a care in the world, he booted what turned out to be a game-winning 48-yard field goal.

Fidone’s kick would have been good from 58.

It was his career-best by six yards.

Riverside led Mt. SAC in almost every stat category except the only one that counts.

The scoreboard.

RCC had advantages in first downs (27-20), total offense (510-370), passing (331-286) and rushing yards (179-84).

The Mt. SAC defense, however, held the No. 1 offense in the state to 21 points under their scoring average, and they kept the Mounties in the game when it seemed their offense could not find the end zone.

Brady Jones completed 27-of-44 for 331 yards.

Jones tossed a 59-yard TD pass to former Ayala star, Marquis Monroe.

Jones also had 29 yards rushing on seven carries, including a 7-yard TD run that gave Riverside a 28-27 lead on the first drive of the second half.

Devyne Pearson carried the ball 17 times for a game-high 113 yards.

Pearson had TD runs of 36, 1 and 12 yards.

Monroe caught six passes for 110 yards, rushed for 28 yards, had two kickoff returns for 38 yards and a 17-yard punt return.

Kaden Willerford caught 11 passes for 105 yards.

Juan Salas and Kalim Mikhail led the MSAC defense with 10 tackles apiece.

Jaylen Crutchfield totaled nine tackles, Brayden Hapner had eight and Teyondre Coleman and Darien Jackson provided six tackles apiece for a stellar Mt. SAC defense.

To the Mounties offense: Noah Fuailetolo completed 19-of-31 for 286 yards.

Fuailetolo tossed three TD passes and didn’t get picked.

Former Northview stud De’shon Thompson had a huge night.

Thompson caught six passes for a game-high 158 yards.

That included TD receptions of 33 and 47 yards.

The first Fuailetolo to Thompson score was just 1:48 into the game.

Pierce Brown was solid as well.

Brown had six receptions for 57 yards.

Juwan Grant totaled three catches for 40 yards, including a 17-yard score with 39 seconds remaining in the first half.

It gave the Mounties a six-point (27-21) lead at the break.

Devin Miles earned every inch of the 101 yards he gained on 20 carries.

Samuel Green had a 2-yard TD run with 7:14 to play to give MSAC a 34-28 advantage.

After Riverside scored to tie the game at 7-7 just seven minutes in, Adrion Boyd returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a Mounties score.

Saipeti Maiava had a game-high 11 tackles for RCC.

Shaheem Taylor totaled eight tackles and Ahamad Chapman had six.

Up next: Mt. SAC travel to the College of San Mateo on Saturday afternoon for the CCCAA state championship.

To view a photo gallery by Gwen Pointer, click on the Facebook link here: Facebook

Box Score:
R: 7-14-7-7-(35)
M: 13-14-0-10-(37)

Scoring:
M: De’shon Thompson 33 pass from Noah Fuailetolo (Jacob Bonilla kick)
R: Marquis Monroe 59 pass from Brady Jones (Luis Marin kick)
M: Adrion Boyd 100 kickoff return (kick failed)
M: De’shon Thompson 47 pass from Noah Fuailetolo (Jacob Bonilla kick)
R: Devyne Pearson 1 run (Luis Marin kick)
M: Juwan Grant 17 pass from Noah Fuailetolo (Jacob Bonilla kick)
R: Brady Jones 7 run (Luis Marin kick)
M: Samuel Green 2 run (Matthew Fidone kick)
R: Devyne Pearson 12 run (Luis Marin kick)
M: Matthew Fidone 48 FG

Records: Riverside (10-2); Mt. SAC (12-0)